Spark-plug wires belong to that group of overlooked components that serve a critical purpose. Plug wires dont make horsepower, but they can hurt performance, mileage and contribute to increased emissions when the wires become old or fragile. The biggest plug-wire problem with high-performance engines is burning the wires on headers. To address both dilemmas, well outline the procedure for installing a set of universal-length MSD 8mm Heli-Core spark-plug wires along with MSDs Wire Separator Kit on a small-block Chevy. Weve also chosen to protect the wires with a ceramic-woven Heat Guard Kit from MSD.

Making custom spark-plug wires from a universal wire set requires more effort, but it allows the freedom to choose the length and routing of the wires. To prevent mixing up the engines firing order, work on only one wire at a time, and work from the longest to the shortest wire. The rest is as easy as following the photos.